


Where Do We Go from Here?

by nosecrinkle



Series: Kylux Twitter Fics [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Humor, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:13:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21525034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nosecrinkle/pseuds/nosecrinkle
Summary: The Order is in shambles. Hux defects.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Kylux Twitter Fics [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1286555
Comments: 2
Kudos: 77





	Where Do We Go from Here?

Hux likes to act proper. He likes people to think of him as respectable.

But then Snoke goes and dies, Ren becomes Supreme Leader and there's no way in hells Ren is going to promote him.

So, Hux decides to give up.

Half their fleet is gone, the new Supreme Leader is incompetent – what is the point of trying? So Hux doesn't. He does the bare minimum on the bridge, delegates as many tasks as he can (to what remains of the bridge crew) and fucks off to the bowels of the Finalizer.

Hux likes to tinker – always has. He has stuck to the odd mouse droid here and there. Taken it apart and put it back together again in his quarters, when he was unable to sleep. But now that the Order is crumbling around him, why go above and beyond? So he sheds his uniform and heads for the engines. Not a lot of people working there have seen him in person and those who have don't recognize him out of uniform. The mechanics and engineers are fun, despite being horribly understaffed.

Falling asleep is much easier after a day of manual labour.

Another upside to not being on the bridge, is that Ren has no idea how to find him. Ren has never frequented that part of the ship and there's something about the engines that disrupts Ren being able to find him with the Force – or so Ren says.

”Says” would be a polite way of putting it. Ren screams it at him, after looking for him for three days. Ren can reach impressive volumes without the helmet.

Unfortunately for Ren, Hux has been screamed at for most of his life. At this moment in time, it takes more than a pissy Force user to scare him.

The least the asshole could do is actually follow through with his threats and put Hux out of his misery. Alas, to Hux's dismay, Ren is terrified of being alone – especially now – and won't do it.

Ren doesn't tell him that of course, but after serving with the man for so many years, it's impossible to not be aware of Ren's fear of abandonment. Ren is terrified of having to do any of this on his own and has only grown more volatile with Hux's frequent absence.

  
  


Hux helps out when Ren asks for it or if the crew's survival depends on it. In the case of food supply, the two overlap. Starving for any reason – even spite – is not a road Hux is willing to go down.

The Finalizer is running out of food, so Hux reaches out.

There is a planet with First Order sympathisers who respond. They have helped them before, but will only supply the food if they receive a personal visit. The ship is two days away from starving, so Hux readily agrees. Ren is the Supreme Leader, sure, but they've never met him. They've only met Hux, so Hux needs to come too – which is fine. The planet is nice and rainy; lots of green stuff. Nothing like Jakku or Crait. Or Starkiller.

Hux packs a bag. Ren does not. Not even a change of clothes, which is gross.

Hux politely doesn't mention it.

  
  


It's pouring down and the fresh air is wonderful. They go straight to the meeting, needing the supplies to be sent on their way as fast as possible.

Hux and Ren stay on-planet until they receive word that the supplies have been delivered. After thanking their saviours, they're supposed to get back on the shuttle and go back to the Finalizer.

Except Hux doesn't want to.

”You're not coming with me?”

”No.”

”You're abandoning me?”

”Not you, the Order.”

Ren gapes at him, soaked to the bone, in his not at all water proof or even water _resistant_ robes. ”Get on the shuttle, Hux.”

Hux shoulders his bag and backs away. ”Nope, not doing that.”

”Hux,” Ren hisses. ”You are not fucking leaving me.”

”Again, not you, the Order.”

”I will have you court martialed.” It doesn't sound threatening, but desperate and panicked.

Hux turns his back on Ren and walks faster. ”Good luck finding me!”

There is a moment's delay, but Hux soon hears fast boot steps catch up to him. Ren doesn't say anything, just falls in to step beside him.

”What are you doing?” Hux asks, but keeps walking.

”I'm not going back there without you.”

”You're the Supreme Leader,” Hux points out.

”You've said the Order was built to sustain loss, even sudden or great loss. If they can replace you, they can replace me.”

Hux eyes him a little. ”They're already understaffed.”

”Good thing it's not my problem anymore then. I'm not much of a problem solver anyway, am I?”

Hux huffs a laugh. Leave it to Ren to hold on to the first (and most tame) insult Hux has ever thrown his way.

”I hope you know where we are, because I don't.” Ren looks to the skies, as if the clouds hold the answer. ”What planet is this again?”

Hux stops in his tracks. ”Of course I know where we fucking are! I'm insulted you would even suggest I'd defect without a contingency plan.”

Ren looks at him, rain dripping from his hair. It's surprisingly curly in its drenched state. ”Okay. So where are we going?”

The plan was to go to the spaceport and get off planet as fast as possible, but with the addition of Ren, the trip requires a detour.

Hux takes them to an indoor market to get some dry clothes for Ren. Something without a cape. Lending Ren some of his own clothes would've been faster, but Ren has that whole shoulder situation going on, so that's not an option.

They aquire some clothes and find a place to change. Hux was planning on changing at the port, but opts to do it with Ren instead.

Hux digs a towel out of his bag and hands it to Ren. Ren squeezes the worst of the water out of his hair and hands the towel back. Hux takes the towel, but doesn't put it away. He stares at Kylo instead.

”What?” he grumbles.

Hux points at his hair with the towel. It is very curly and very fluffy.

”It's the humidity!”

”You look twelve.”

”I will kill you,” Kylo hisses.

”You want to kill your only somewhat safe way out of the Order? Good idea,” Hux rolls his eyes. ”That reminds me – give me your saber,” he holds out his hand.

”Fuck you, you're not getting my saber.”

Ren does a remarkable impression of an adolescent. Hux is not impressed.

”Carrying around a mythical weapon, on a planet once infested with Jedi is not a good idea, Ren. They know what a lightsaber looks like. Especially the children.”

Ren holds on tightly to his saber. ”We're too far out, there aren't any Jedi temples out here.”

”Doesn't mean they weren't here,” Hux reasons. The last time Hux was here, the people they spoke to asked about Ren, having heard rumours about him and his Force powers.

Ren begrudgingly hands over his saber and Hux tucks it safely into his bag, in a place where it will be easy to retrieve if needed.

They head outside and make the trek to the spaceport. Hux didn't dare make any prior arrangements, so they have to find someone to take them off planet. Hux estimated that he would have a pretty ood chance of finding a ride, but that was when it was just him. Having Ren along changes that.

Small ships with only one pilot are out. They would never agree to be outnumbered on their own ship; that's just asking for mutiny. Even with the rain pouring down, there are many people outside, running around the ships.

Hux narrows down the targets and zeroes in on one.

”Hold my hand.”

”What?”

”That couple there, we're going to ask them for a ride,” Hux points out the ship.

”Why should I hold your hand for that? You got a problem talking to strangers all of a sudden?”

”No, you idiot.” Hux punches his shoulder. ”Look at them. They're wholesome. We have got to look wholesome for them to agree to take us on. If we say we're eloping because our families disapprove of our union, they're going to ay yes like _that_ ,” he snaps his fingers. ”Wholesome people are suckers for love stories.”

”That's not gonna work. I'll just use the Force – ”

”You're not going to do your hand-wavey shit in a public place, with _holo_ _surveillance_ , on the day we defect. If it wasn't for the cloud cover, the Finalizer would be visible in the fucking sky, Ren.”

Ren grumbles, but lets Hux hold his hand.

Hux adjusts Ren's jacket and sweater collar, to cover more of the scar on his face and neck. Ren's uncoverd face hasn't been shown in public or used in propaganda yet, so they should be safe, but better safe than sorry.

Hux takes them to the ship and introduces them to the nice looking couple. They're not human, so it's hard to gauge their ages, but Hux thinks they might be empty nesters, looking for a bit of adventure. He gives them a spiel about how they're running away.

Ren looks nervous and intense as all hells, but it works out in their favour, as the couple mistakes it for fear of being torn apart. Hux makes it sound all romantic and throws in some vague allusions to destiny. He sells it well enough to get them a ride to the nearest system. It's not as far away as Hux would've liked, but it's a start.

And Ren is keeping quiet for once, which is a lovely change of pace.

  
  


There's a bit of a wait, as the couple need to get a few things before they take off. Anxiously, they wait around. The private port where they landed with the First Order shuttle isn't far. Their itinerary wasn't tight, so their absence will hopefully go unnoticed for a while yet, but the fear is still there.

They manage to find a blind spot where the cameras don't reach. It's partially sheltered under the belly of a cargo ship, so they stay somewhat dry.

They both breathe a sigh of relief when the couple return and they finally take off.

The ship is small, so Hux and Ren retreat to the cargo hold for a bit of privacy. There's food, a collection of camping equipment and a land speeder in the hold. They sit on a couple of cushions and sleeping bags. Hux sprawls inelegantly and throws an arm over his eyes.

”This is the last time I'm defecting with you.”

Ren grunts and sprawls too. ”How long have you been planning this?”

”What, defecting?”

”Mm?”

”I've never not thought about it.”

Ren nudges him with his foot. ”I'm serious.”

Hux debates what level of honesty he's willing to go with. He might as well just say it as it is. No matter how they look at it, there's a very high possibility of sudden death.

”Since the Supremacy.”

Ren looks at him, but doesn't say anything.

The stress of the last few days, paired with Ren lying still and being quiet, makes Hux drift off.

When he wakes up again, he's groggy. He can't tell how much time has passed. Ren is no longer beside him.

He sits up, groaning loudly. He is too old to sleep anywhere that isn't an actual bed, intended for human spines.

Ren is sitting on a crate, elbow deep in Hux's bag.

”Finding anything interesting?” He asks, voice hoarse and weird.

”I know you like knives, but this is a bit extreme.”

Hux chuckles and rubs his eyes. ”There's a blaster in there, too.”

”Yeah,” Ren says. ”One.”

”I packed for one person.”

”There are eight knives in here.”

”Eight is a perfectly reasonable amount of knives for one person.”

”You have more on your person, don't you.”

”That is none of your concern.” Hux gets to his feet and tries to stretch out his back.

”That's a yes.”

”It is.”

Ren looks at him for a moment. ”You know I can kill people with my thoughts, right?”

”Yeah, well. I didn't account for you coming with me.”

Ren mulls that over. ”You're not gonna leave me at the spaceport, are you?”

”You are an actual child.”

Ren is about to retaliate, but they are interrupted by one half of the couple, asking if they're hungry.

For some reason Ren won't speak in front of them, so Hux has to speak for him.

  
  


They spend the next two cycles between being polite with the couple and retreating to the cargo hold. Hux isn't familiar with the species and doesn't know how they show affection. He worries about their cover, but hopes handholding is universal enough to work.

Ren being silent turns out to help their cause. The couple thinks he's shy and don't prod too much. They let Hux and Ren keep to themselves.

They sleep in shifts, too paranoid to do it at the same time. Ren snores. Hux isn't surprised.

Hux spends several hours after waking up, complaining about his back. They end up in a screaming match, after Ren finds out Hux's pain is due to what he did to him on Crait. Ren is incapable of handling guilt like a well adjusted adult, so Hux retreats to the front of the ship.

After calming down, he's offered a thorough tour of the cockpit. Hux pretends he isn't already intimately familiar with the inner workings of most spaceships and asks curious questions along the way.

Both halves of the couple gently reassure him that young love is often explosive. Things will mellow out in time and it's definitely worth staying together, even when fighting.

Hux politely agrees and bites back how he never had much of a choice in the matter. He could have turned Ren down, he knows, but in the grander scheme of things, he never had a say in whether he wanted to work with Ren in the first place – or anyone else for that matter. Hux has never had much of a say in who he spends his time with.

  
  


Ren emerges a while later, looking forlorn.

”Hu– Honey. Can we talk?”

Hux does not want to talk, but the couple nudge him and smile encouragingly. Backed into a corner as he is, he grumbles a bit, but ultimately follows Ren to the hold. They're supposed to be in love, after all.

”We're approaching the habitable zone. What's the plan?”

Hux blinks. There are no computers or screens in the hold, how dows Ren know that? Hux hadn't noticed them even entering the solar system.

”I can sense the sun,” Ren says – as if that explains anything.

”You what?”

”The plan, Hux. What're we gonna do?”

Hux shakes his head. ”Stars help me,” he sighs. ”We will thank the nice people who brought us here, leave the ship and pray that the Order doesn't have a presence here. We're still in First Order territory.”

Ren crosses his arms. ”You're a First Order general, shouldn't you have acces to that information?”

”Not everyone runs their ship as tight as I do. Did. The Finalizer doesn't have anyone stationed here, but other ships could.”

”So we need to leave. Fast.”

”We do.”

  
  


The ship lands and Hux makes sure to thank the couple profusely, while they disembark.

Ren insists on carrying Hux's bag, so Hux can't make a break for it without losing his possessions. Hux wasn't planning on it, but it was nice having the option.

The ship is barely out of sight when Ren stops abruptly.

”What's the matter?” Hux asks and looks around frantically, trying to spot the danger.

”I know this place,” Ren says. ”I've been here with my– As a kid. I remember this.”

”I'm happy for you, keep walking,” Hux pushes. It's futile. Ren is like a stone wall, only moving when he himself wants to. Hux huffs and grabs Ren's hand and pulls until Ren follows.

”The surveillance here is insane, we need to keep moving.”

Ren follows Hux blindly, eyes lingering on the odd ship here and there.

”Are we gonna pay our way or steal one?”

”What?”

”What?” Ren echoes. ”There are barely any credits in your bag. You paid them way too much for the ride, by the way.”

”I refuse to put a price on my life, Ren. I survived the trip, that makes it worth it.”

”You're so dramatic,” Ren groans.

”Me? _Dramatic_?” Hux shrieks.

Ren waves him off. ”Okay, so you paid for the first trip, I'll cover the second.”

Hux tries to tell him that stealing a ship is not remotely the same thing as paying someone for their services. Ren doesn't listen.

After a few minutes of scouting, Ren points and says, ”That one.”

It takes Hux a moment to realise that what he thought was a waste receptacle is actually a ship.

”That ship can't fly.”

”I can fly anything.”

Hux chokes on a laugh. ”You are a remarkable pilot, but you're not getting that thing off the ground.”

  
  


Fifteen minutes later, they're leaving the atmosphere and Ren is smirking. Like an asshole.

”You think I'm a good pilot.”

Hux unties his broken seatbelt. ”Wasn't a compliment, just facts. I've seen your flight data.”

”Why were you looking at my flight data, General?”

Hux sighs dramatically and grits out, ”I was encouraged to look at it. If you weren't so reckless, you would've been the best pilot in the Order.”

Ren's smirk drops. ”I would?” He frowns. ”But the TIE pilots?”

”Good, but not as good as you, I'm afraid,” Hux replies absently, faking interest in the broken buckle on the seatbelt. ”They get picked over you for missions because they're reliable, not because they're better.”

”Are you sure? There's that one pilot, what's her name? You know the one.”

”As much as I hate to say it, you have been a great asset to the Order. Not the Force crap, obviously, that's completely useless – but you do have a lot of applicable skills.”

Ren looks gobsmacked for a moment. Then he pounces. He is up and out of his seat with the grace of a clumsy animal, pulling at Hux's clothes.

”What are you doing!?” Hux shrieks and tries to shield himself – but it stops as fast as it began. Ren is sitting on Hux's thigh, identification tags between his fingers. The chain is still around his neck and digs into his skin. He belatedly remembers that he didn't throw those away yet.

”Huh,” Kylo says.

”What?” Hux spits.

”All those compliments had me worried, but you do appear to be who you say you are.”

Hux attempts the thrash and get Ren off, but the man is immovable. Only when he stops fighting does Ren get off his ass and Hux can rub the circulation back into his thighs.

Ren slips back into the pilot seat.

”So, where do we go from here?”

”I don't know,” Hux grumbles. ”Somewhere the Order isn't.”

”We're not splitting up, right? We're going together?”

Hux sighs in exasperation. ”Yes, we're staying together, please, stop asking.”

”Okay,” Ren says, fidgets. ”I just– I wasn't sure if you'd want to stick together. It's probably safer if we don't.”

”Yeah, well, it's a big galaxy. I'm sure we can manage. Hells, maybe a couple is less likely to be noticed then one person on their own.”

Ren's head snaps up. ”You wanna– You wanna keep the cover? The _we're eloping_ thing?”

Hux scratches his neck. ”I mean, we can't elope forever,” he says, face feeling warm. ”Maybe we should just say we're married. You don't tend to notice people as much if they're not available, do you?”

Ren makes a weird noise and says, ”That's probably true. And we only have to remember one last name, so that's practical.”

”Right, right. Sharing a last name with your spouse is tradition in a lot of places, isn't it?”

They look at each other awkwardly for entirely too long.

”We should stop somewhere. Get food,” Hux suggests.

”We should,” Ren agrees. ”Provisions.”

Hux fiddles with the star maps for a while, while Ren stares blankly into space. They're idiots and they're going to get caught and get executed and it's going to suck – but they don't talk about that.

Hux flips through the maps mindlessly. He knows how far the Order reaches and what places to avoid – but that still leaves a whole lot of options.

”We should find somewhere with a lot of humans. We don't want to stand out.”

Ren nods in his periphery. ”No sand, please.”

”Stars, no,” Hux agrees, wrinkles his nose. ”No deserts. No snow either.”

”No snow,” Ren shudders. ”Can we go somewhere green? I like trees. And water. Hey, can we go to an ocean?”

Hux looks up. He hasn't seen an ocean in a very long time. Not one he could touch. Hux nods and tries to narrow down their options.

In the end, Hux finds a place on a planet that's a big hit on the holonet for people who like to venture into the wilderness while on vacation, but still be close enough to civilisation when they've had enough.

Hux enters the coordinates and Ren takes them there.

They stop on the way, to stock up on food and supplies. Ren darts off for a while, but not for long enough for Hux to worry.

Ren comes back, carrying a parcel of clothing. Hux decides not to comment on it.

  
  


Back on the ship, on the last stretch of the trip, Ren switches to autopilot and digs through the clothing parcel. He changes right there in the cockpit and Hux only belatedly averts his eyes. It's rather pointless though, as the transparisteel reflects the inside of the ship. Hux sees everything.

Ren looks very different in civilian clothing. It's a simple shirt with button closures and a collar, but it makes Ren look about ten years younger. Ren pulls a short jacket on over top and gets back into the pilot's seat. He pulls something from the inner jacket pocket and reaches for Hux.

”Give me your hand.”

”What? Why?”

”Give me it,” Ren says and waves his fingers demandingly.

Hux sighs in defeat and reaches across the space between their seats, letting Ren hold his hand. His head snaps up when Ren slips something on to his finger.

”What're you … Is that a ring?”

Ren lets go of his hand and slips a matching ring on to his own finger. ”It's tradition. Or it is where _I_ grew up, anyway. It shows you're married to someone. Or seriously committed.”

Hux runs the pad of his thumb over the ring. The metal is smooth and golden, no ornaments or incriptions.

”What an odd thing to do.”

Ren shrugs and pointedly doesn't look at him. ”Yeah, well, if we run into anyone from the Core Worlds, they'll know what it means.”

”Oh, right. Our cover,” Hux mutters. ”Right.”

  
  


They arrive at the spaceport and the whole place is overrun by tourists. There is a smaller spaceport further out, but it's easier to disappear in the big crowds at this one.

They gather their things and disembark.

”We need a speeder.”

Ren nods and squints into the middle distance.

After a moment, he takes Hux's hand and leads them away from the port.

Ren takes him to what resembles a workshop. The owner drives a hard bargain (and their ship is shit), but they trade it in for a speeder.

They strap their bags to the speeder and take off in the direction of the tourist friendly wilderness. They see other speeders along the way, as well as various campsites, but they have a plan and venture on.

They continue out past the point where the tourists fare. There are settlements further out; small villages, lone huts and cabins. When the workshop owner heard where they were going, they got a tent along with the speeder. Hux hoped they would be able to travel through the night, but the owner said that would be monumentally stupid.

  
  


After spending two days on the speeder and two nights in the tent, they come to realise the maps they have are horribly inaccurate.

It's late in the day when they finally arrive at the village Hux picked out. There's a small inn where they ask about empty cabins in the area. There are a few abandoned cabins, but the inn keeper can't attest to the state of them.

They're provided with a map and the approximate location of a few of them. Hux immediately zeroes in on one cabin in particular, but it's getting dark, so they spend their last credits on a room.

  
  


They arrive at the cabin bright and early, dew still clinging to the foliage. The forest is less dense in this area and the cabin is easy to find. It looks a bit worse for wear, but the structure is intact, the roof looks solid.

While Ren inspects the cabin, Hux stands outside.

”Looks good. Needs a bit of work, but nothing we can't handle,” Ren says as he reemerges. ”Hopefully.”

Hux smiles, back toward the cabin.

”What?” Ren asks.

”Can you hear that?”

”Hear what?” Ren frowns and faces the same direction as Hux, listening closely.

After a moment, he hears it. He turns to Hux, grinning. ”The ocean – is that the ocean?”

”Less than a klick from here. We're far enough to be safe from rough weather, but close enough to hear it.”

Ren grabs his hands and starts running. Hux's laughter rings out behind him. Hux calls out to him, asks him to slow down, but Ren doesn't listen. He barges through the undergrowth with Hux in tow.

In moments, they burst through the tree line. The ocean stretches endlessly in front of them; the fog of the morning still clinging to the horizon. Ren finally slows down, but doesn't stop. He keeps a tight hold of Hux's hand and leads them down to the shore. The sand is wet and heavy underfoot. It clings to their boots in clumps.

”Told you it was close,” Hux says breathlessly, winded from their sprint.

When the water laps at his toes, Ren finally stops. He looks at Hux over his shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.

”What?” Hux laughs.

”You saved me.”

Hux's face falls. ”When?” He frowns.

Ren turns back around, eyes to the ocean. ”When have you ever not saved me, Hux?”

”Who's the dramatic one now?” he mutters under his breath.

Ren shakes their hands. ”I mean it. Thank you.”

”I don't know why I bothered.”

”Me either. But I'm glad you did.”

Hux doesn't reply.

The sun is starting to break through the mist and Ren is still holding his hand. They watch the sun rise in silence. The temperature barely rises, but the sun feels warm on their skin.

”I'm glad you came with me,” Hux says, eventually.

Ren is uncharacteristically quiet. He runs his thumb across the ring on Hux's finger.

”What would I do without you?”

”Perish, I'd imagine.”

Ren huffs a laugh. ”Yeah. Yeah, I think I would.”

Hux smiles and tugs on Ren's hand. He leads them up the beach and back into the trees, where their cabin waits for them.


End file.
